THE COUNTRY LIFE. 263 



wasps ; the humble-bees, whose weight swings 

 them along. About the oaks and maples the 

 brown chafers swarm, and the fern-owls at dusk, 

 andthe blackbirds and jays by day, cannot reduce 

 their legions while they last. Yellow butter- 

 flies, and white, broad red admirals, and sweet 

 blues ; think of the kingdom of flowers which 

 is theirs ! Heavy moths burring at the edge 

 of the copse ; green, and red, and gold flies : 

 gnats, like smoke, around the tree-tops ; midges 

 so thick over the brook, as if you could haul a 

 netful ; tiny leaping creatures in the grass ; 

 bronze beetles across the path ; blue dragonflies 

 pondering on cool leaves of water-plantain. 

 Blue jays flitting, a magpie drooping across 

 from elm to elm ; young rooks that have 

 escaped the hostile shot blundering up into 

 the branches; missel thrushes leading their 

 fledglings, already strong on the wing, from 

 field to field. An egg here on the sward 

 dropped by a starling ; a red ladybird creeping, 

 tortoise-like, up a green fern frond. Finches 

 undulating through the air, shooting them- 

 selves with closed wings, and linnets happy 

 with their young. . . . 



